Administering reward schemes

ABSTRACT

Administering reward schemes. A first reward scheme is predefined by a computer system, the first reward scheme defining a first reward event. A second reward scheme is obtained externally by the computer system, the second reward scheme defining a second reward event. In response to an action by a user, the computer system determines whether the first reward event or the second reward event has been triggered. If the first reward event has been triggered, the computer system calculates a first reward for the user according the first reward scheme and if the second reward event has been triggered, the computer system calculates a second reward for the user according the second reward scheme. The second reward scheme may be obtained by, and shared to, the computer system as an inheritance of rules within an organization.

PRIOR FOREIGN APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priorities fromTaiwan Patent Application 103137963, filed on Oct. 31, 2014 and fromTaiwan Patent Application 104106973, filed on Mar. 05, 2015, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

One or more aspects of the invention generally relate to administeringreward schemes, and more particularly, to methods sharing a rewardscheme to another reward scheme.

Whether in marketing or organizational management, reward schemes mayeffectively enhance customer loyalty or employee productivity andcompliance. Extensive reward schemes are mostly administered with theassistance of automatic information systems, such as reward pointschemes of credit card companies or mileage schemes of airlines.

For more prior art about using computer systems to administer rewardschemes, refer to EP 1050835, U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,216, U.S. Pub. No.2004/0243465, and U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0036001, each of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

SUMMARY

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages areprovided through the provision of a method for administering rewardschemes, the method including: pre-defining a first reward scheme, thefirst reward scheme defining a first reward event; obtaining a secondreward scheme externally, the second reward scheme defining a secondreward event; determining whether at least one of the first reward eventor the second reward event have been triggered in response to an actionby a user; based on the first reward event having been triggered,determining a first reward for the user according to the first rewardscheme; and based on the second reward event having been triggered,notifying a predetermined entity of the second reward event ordetermining a second reward for the user according to the second rewardscheme.

Further, a computer system is provided that includes a memory and aprocessor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer systemis configured to perform a method including: pre-defining a first rewardscheme, the first reward scheme defining a first reward event; obtaininga second reward scheme externally, the second reward scheme defining asecond reward event; determining whether at least one of the firstreward event or the second reward event have been triggered in responseto an action by a user; based on the first reward event having beentriggered, determining a first reward for the user according to thefirst reward scheme; and based on the second reward event having beentriggered, notifying a predetermined entity of the second reward eventor determining a second reward for the user according to the secondreward scheme.

Yet further, a computer program product including a computer readablestorage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions forexecution by the processor is provided for performing a method thatincludes: pre-defining a first reward scheme, the first reward schemedefining a first reward event; obtaining a second reward schemeexternally, the second reward scheme defining a second reward event;determining whether at least one of the first reward event or the secondreward event have been triggered in response to an action by a user;based on the first reward event having been triggered, determining afirst reward for the user according to the first reward scheme; andbased on the second reward event having been triggered, notifying apredetermined entity of the second reward event or determining a secondreward for the user according to the second reward scheme.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the conceptsdescribed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of embodiments of the invention will bereadily understood, a more particular description of embodiments of theinvention described herein may be rendered by reference to specificembodiments that are illustrated in the drawings. Understanding thatthese drawings depict only example embodiments of the invention and aretherefore not to be considered to be limiting of its scope, embodimentsof the invention are described and explained with additional specificityand detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an example computer system of an embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict example flowcharts of methods of embodiments ofthe invention; and

FIG. 3 depicts an example computer device of an embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference herein to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similarlanguage means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment may be included in anembodiment of aspects described herein. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the sameembodiment.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a computer system/device, a method or acomputer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present inventionmay take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirelysoftware embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code,etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that mayall generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or“system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take theform of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium ofexpression having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readablemedium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readablemedium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustivelist) of the computer-readable medium may include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as thosesupporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device.Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even bepaper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, asthe program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory. In the context of aspects described herein, acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signalwith the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program codemay be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but notlimited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer or server may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Referring now to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, computer systems/devices,methods, and computer program products are illustrated as structural orfunctional block diagrams or process flowcharts according to variousembodiments of the present invention. The flowchart and block diagramsin the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operationof possible implementations of systems, methods and computer programproducts according to various embodiments of the present invention. Inthis regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may representa module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or moreexecutable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware andcomputer instructions.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of the architecture of a computer system 100 ofan embodiment of the invention for those skilled in the related art tounderstand aspects of the invention, but not for restricting the scopeof aspects of the invention. In an exemplary embodiment, the computersystem 100 comprises a server 110, a server 112, and a server 114 thatmay communicate with each other via a network (not shown).

The network can also come in a connection of any type, including a widearea network (WAN) or a local area network (LAN) with static IP, or atemporary connection to the Internet through an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), whether by cable connection or by wireless connection.Persons skilled in the art are able to understand that the network canalso have other hardware and software elements (such as an additionalcomputer system, a router, or a firewall) not shown in the accompanyingdrawings.

The servers 110, 112, and 114 may be implemented with general-purposecomputers, special application computers, high-end workstations,mainframe computers, etc., such as System X, Blade Center, or eServerofferings offered by International Business Machines Corporation,Armonk, N.Y., U.S.A. (System X, Blade Center and/or eServer may betrademarks of International Business Machines Corporation). In anembodiment, the servers 110, 112, and 114 may have different physicallocations and communicate by a backbone network; therefore, for eachserver, the other servers may be located at external networks. However,in another embodiment, the servers 110, 112, and 114 may be constructedas virtual servers in a server room provided by the same cloud serviceprovider.

To illustrate aspects described herein, in this embodiment, the server110 is managed and maintained by a retail group which defines a rewardscheme RS0; the server 112 is managed and maintained by a chain store(or brand) of the retail group which defines a reward scheme RS2; andthe server 114 is managed and maintained by a credit card companyoutside the retail group which defines a reward scheme RS4. U.S. Pat.No. 6,571,216 provides further details of reward schemes.

Aspects described herein may be implemented to comprise multiple servers110 (belonging to different business divisions of the group), multipleservers 112, and multiple servers 114, and the numbers of which are notlimited. More particularly, the multiple servers 110 may belong todifferent business divisions of the group and each may provide differentreward schemes RS0, the multiple servers 112 may belong to differentchain stores of the group and each may provide different reward schemesRS2, and the multiple servers 114 may belong to different credit cardcompanies and each may provide different reward schemes RS4.

More particularly, the server 112 is provided to a user 120 (i.e.,facing a customer) and identifies the identity of the user 120, andfurther detects an action by the user 120. For example, in the case ofpurchasing at a physical store, the server 112 may connect to aPoint-of-Sale system (not shown) at the store to access a membershipcard presented by the user 120, and be aware of the transactions oractions executed by the user 120; in the case of purchasing online, theserver 112 itself may provide web services or other user interfaces(both not shown) for the user 120 to log in with an account and operate,or may detect the transactions or actions executed by the user 120 byconnecting to an online-trading system. The details may be found inprior art and are not described here.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the server 110 managed by the retail groupand the server 114 managed by the credit card company are not providedto the user 120, and depend on the server 112 managed by the chain storeto be aware of the transactions or actions executed by the user 120. Inother words, in some embodiments, the server 112 is not only a rewardscheme owner of the reward scheme RS2 but also a distribution agent ofthe reward schemes, though embodiments of the invention are not limitedthereto. U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,216 provide details of the reward schemeowner and the distribution agent of reward schemes, the entirety ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein. Since the server 112 alsoshares the reward scheme RS0 of the server 110 and the reward scheme RS4of the server 114, the server 112 may functionally act as the rewardscheme owner of the reward schemes RS0 and RS4. However, as the rewardschemes RS0 and RS4 are not actually defined by the sever 112, when thesever 112 acts as the distribution agent of reward schemes, the server112 may calculate rewards for the user 120 according to the sharedreward schemes RS0 and RS4 in addition to calculating rewards for theuser 120 according to the reward scheme RS2 defined by itself (locally).Further details of aspects described herein are described withsubsequent flowcharts.

Many functional units described herein may be labeled as modules inorder to more particularly emphasize their implementation independencein accordance with some embodiments. For example, a module may beimplemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits orgate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips,transistors, or other discrete components. A module may also beimplemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmablegate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or thelike. Modules may also be implemented in software for execution byvarious types of processors. An identified module of executable codemay, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks ofcomputer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as anobject, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, executables of anidentified module need not be physically located together, but maycomprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which,when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve thestated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may even be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated hereinwithin modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organizedwithin any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may becollected as a single data set, or may be distributed over differentlocations including over different storage devices, and may exist, atleast partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.

Aspects described herein are illustrated with several embodimentsherein, though persons skilled in the art should understand thatembodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specificembodiments described herein.

FIG. 2A shows a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of the invention,which in FIG. 2A is a method for administering reward schemes inaccordance with aspects of the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1.

At 200, as the reward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS2, the server112 (belonging to the chain store) pre-defines the reward scheme RS2locally. Similarly, as the reward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS0,the server 110 (belonging to the retail group) pre-defines the rewardscheme RS0; as the reward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS4, theserver 114 (belonging to the credit card company) pre-defines the rewardscheme RS4. It is understood that the reward scheme owners of each ofthe reward schemes may modify their reward schemes at anytime.

The reward schemes may include one or multiple rules and reward eventsapplicable to each rule. For instance, the reward event may bepurchasing a specific product or exceeding a specific amount of money,and the rule may be the type and calculation of the reward. Thefollowing shows examples for illustrative purposes:

-   -   Reward scheme RS0 of the retail group defines: granting 1 reward        point of the retail group when an amount of a single purchasing        exceeds USD 100;    -   Reward scheme RS2 of the chain store defines: granting 1 gift        point of the chain store when an event of purchasing a product X        occurs;    -   Reward scheme RS4 of the credit card company defines: granting 1        cash discount point when an event of purchasing the product X        with a credit card Y occurs.

At 202, the server 112 connects to the servers 110 and 114 by network toobtain the shared reward schemes RS0 and RS4. Since the servers 110 and114 may modify the reward schemes RS0 and RS4 anytime, the servers 110and 114 may separately communicate with the server 112 to provide thelatest reward schemes RS0 and RS4. In comparison, the reward scheme RS2may be saved on the server 112 and not shared to the servers 110 and114.

Since the chain store is in this example subordinate to the retail groupand is at a lower level, the server 112 may obtain the reward scheme RS0as an inheritance of rules within the organization from the server 110.U.S. Pat. No. 7,685,156, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, may be referred to for further details. Undercertain circumstances, the inheritance of rules may allow an entity at alower level to override the rules inherited from an entity at a higherlevel.

In comparison, since the credit card company may not be subordinate tothe retail group, the server 112 may only obtain the reward scheme RS4from the server 114 by prearrangements, and the inheritance of rules at220 (infra) may not necessarily be available. In general, the rewardscheme RS4 of the credit card company may also not be allowed to bemodified by the server 112 of the chain store.

More particularly, for illustrative purposes, for the server 112, thereward scheme RS2 may be termed as “local reward scheme”, the rewardscheme RS0 may be termed as “inherited reward scheme”, and the rewardscheme RS4 may be termed as “external reward scheme”.

At 204, the server 112 identifies the identity of the user 120 (thecustomer) and detects the action by the user 120, and respectivelydetermines whether the reward events of each of the reward schemes havebeen triggered in response to the action by the user 120. For example,if the user 120 purchases the product X of a price of USD 150 with thecredit card Y at the chain store, the reward events of each of the abovereward schemes RS0, RS2, and RS4 have all been triggered, and the flowproceeds to 220, 240, and 260, respectively, which shall be describedlater. More particularly, for illustrative purposes, for the server 112,the reward event triggering the reward scheme RS2 may be termed as“local reward event”, the reward event triggering the reward scheme RS0may be termed as “inherited reward event”, and the reward eventtriggering the reward scheme RS4 may be termed as “external rewardevent”.

In another embodiment, 202 and 204 may proceed simultaneously; in otherwords, after the server 112 detects the action by the user 120, theserver 112 communicates with the servers 110 and 114 to inquire whetherthe inherited reward event and the external reward event of the rewardschemes RS0 and RS4 have been triggered in response to the action by theuser 120; if the responses from the servers 110 and 114 are positive,the server 112 obtains the rules of the calculation of the rewards ofthe reward schemes RS0 and RS4 from the servers 110 and 114.

At 220, for the inherited reward event, the server 112 determineswhether the reward scheme RS0 inherited from the server 110 ismodifiable and whether modifications are indicated. For instance, for anexclusive promotion activity of the chain store, the server 112 may beallowed to modify the reward scheme RS0 so that in addition to granting1 reward point of the retail group when an amount of a single purchasingexceeds USD 100, 2 gift points of the chain store are further granted.If the determination at 220 is Yes, the flow proceeds to 222; if not,222 is bypassed and the flow proceeds to 224.

At 222, the server 112 modifies the reward scheme RS0 and calculates thegift points of the chain store for the user 120 according to the rewardscheme RS0 after modification, and saves the gift points in an accountmaintained by the server 112. The flow then proceeds to 224.

At 224, the server 112 calculates the reward points of the retail groupfor the user 120 according to the reward scheme RS0 inherited from theserver 110 or the reward scheme RS0 after modification in 222. In orderto save the reward points of the retail group granted to user 120, theserver 112 transmits identification information of the user 120 to theserver 110 to determine whether the user 120 has a reward account of theretail group on the server 110.

At 226, if the determination at 224 is Yes, the server 112 saves thereward points of the retail group granted to user 120 during thistransaction in the reward account maintained by the server 110.

At 228, if the determination at 224 is No, the server 112 establishes adummy reward account of the user 120 locally and saves the reward pointsof the retail group granted to the user 120 during this transaction inthe dummy reward account. The dummy reward account may be different fromthe account maintained by the server 112 at 222. Subsequently, theserver 112 generates an authorization code for the dummy reward account,and provides the authorization code to the user 120 (by denoting on areceipt or additionally notifying the user 120 by email). If the user120 subsequently has the reward account of the retail group on theserver 110, the authorization code may be used by the user 120 toindicate that the server 112 transfer the reward points of the retailgroup in the dummy reward account to the reward account of the retailgroup maintained by the server 110.

At 240, for the local reward event, since the server 112 is the rewardscheme owner of the reward scheme RS2, the server 112 calculates areward according to the reward scheme RS2. In this embodiment, theserver 112 grants 1 gift point of the chain store in response to theuser 120 purchasing the product X.

At 242, the server 112 saves the gift points of the chain store grantedto the user 120 at 240 in the account maintained by the server 112.

At 260, for the external reward event, the server 112 calculates areward according to the reward scheme RS4. In this embodiment, theserver 112 grants 1 cash discount point in response to the user 120purchasing the product X with the credit card Y.

At 262, in order to save the cash discount points of the credit cardcompany granted to the user 120 at 260, the server 112 transmitsidentification information of the user 120 to the server 114 todetermine whether the user 120 has a cash discount account of the retailgroup of the credit card company on the server 114.

At 264, if the determination of 262 is Yes, the server 112 saves thecash discount points granted to user 120 during this transaction in thecash discount account maintained by the server 114. Generally speaking,the cash discount account maintained by the server 114 may be a creditcard number, and the server 112 also obtains the credit card number whenhandling the transaction.

At 266, if the determination at 262 is No, the server 112 establishes adummy reward account of the user 120 locally as at 228 and saves thecash discount points granted to user 120 during this transaction in thedummy reward account, and the server 112 generates an authorization codefor the user 120 to subsequently indicate that the server 112 transferthe cash discount points from the server 112 to the cash discountaccount maintained by the server 114. This can happens when the rewardscheme RS4 of the credit card company desires the user 120 to furtherregister.

In addition, in another embodiment other than that shown in FIG. 2A,only determination of the inherited reward events in the reward schemeRS0 are provided by the server 110 to the server 112 (or set by theserver 112 itself) at first, and when the server 112 determines that theinherited reward events have been triggered in response to the action bythe user 120, the server 112 further communicates with the server 110 toinquire the rules in the reward scheme RS0 corresponding to theinherited reward events, for instance to inquire whether the server 110authorizes the server 112 to modify such inherited rules.

If the server 112 is authorized to modify, 222-228 of FIG. 2A describedabove shall proceed. If the server 112 is not authorized to modify,subsequent operations may be taken over by the server 110; that is, theserver 110 may calculate the reward (i.e., the reward points of theretail group) for the user 120 according to the reward scheme RS0. Itshould be particularly noted that, as like the server 112 describedabove may share the reward scheme RS0 of the server 110, the server 110may also share or inherit reward schemes of other servers (not shown)and calculate the reward for the user 120 accordingly.

Subsequently, the server 112 may transmit identification information ofthe user 120 to the server 110 for the server 110 to determine whetherthe user 120 has the reward account of the retail group on the server110. If the determination is Yes, the server 110 may save the calculatedreward in the reward account of the retail group of the user 120 on theserver 110. If the determination is No, the server 110 may transmit thecalculated reward back to the server 112, and the server 112 mayestablish a dummy reward account locally and save the reward calculatedby the server 110 for user 120 in the dummy reward account.

FIG. 2B shows a flowchart of another exemplary embodiment of theinvention, which is a method for administering reward schemes inaccordance with aspects of the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1.

At 210, as the reward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS2, the server112 (belonging to the chain store) pre-defines the reward scheme RS2locally. Similarly, as the reward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS0,the server 110 (belonging to the retail group) pre-defines the rewardscheme RS0; as the reward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS4, theserver 114 (belonging to the credit card company) pre-defines the rewardscheme RS4. 200 in FIG. 2A may be referred to.

At 212, the server 112 connects to the servers 110 and 114 by network toobtain the shared reward schemes RS0 and RS4. More particularly, theserver 112 may obtain the reward scheme RS0 as an inheritance of rulesfrom the server 110; 202 in FIG. 2A may be referred to. Moreparticularly, for illustrative purposes, for the server 112, the rewardscheme RS2 may be termed as “local reward scheme”, the reward scheme RS0may be termed as “inherited reward scheme”, and the reward scheme RS4may be termed as “external reward scheme”. In addition, if the server112 is authorized to modify the reward scheme RS0, the server 112 maymodify (customize) the reward scheme RS0 according to specification andsave locally, as like the local reward scheme RS2.

At 214, the server 112 identifies the identity of the user 120 (thecustomer) and detects the action by the user 120, and respectivelydetermines whether the reward events of each of the reward schemes havebeen triggered in response to the action by the user 120. 204 in FIG. 2Amay be referred to. Subsequently, the flow proceeds to 230, 250, and270, respectively, which shall be described later. More particularly,for illustrative purposes, for the server 112, the reward eventtriggering the reward scheme RS2 may be termed as “local reward event”,the reward event triggering the reward scheme RS0 may be termed as“inherited reward event”, and the reward event triggering the rewardscheme RS4 may be termed as “external reward event”.

At 230, for the inherited reward event, the server 112 determineswhether the reward scheme RS0 inherited from the server 110 has beenmodified. If the determination at 230 is No, which means it has not beenmodified, the flow proceeds to 232, and the server 112 notifies thereward scheme owner of the reward scheme RS0, i.e., the server 110, ofthe inherited reward event determined to trigger the reward scheme RS0at 214, so that it is handled by the server 110. For the server 110,this event may be deemed as a local reward event for handling orcalculating rewards, and may be saved locally in the server 110. Inaddition, if the server 112 is aware of the reward account of the user120 in the reward scheme RS0, it may be provided to the server 110together. For subsequent local operations of the server 110, 250 to 258of the server 112 described later may be referred to.

If the determination at 230 is Yes, which means the inherited rewardscheme RS0 has been modified, the flow proceeds to 250 and the server112 handles according to the reward scheme RS0 after modification savedlocally as like the local reward scheme RS2, i.e., the inherited rewardevent is handled as a local reward event.

At 250, for the local reward event, since the server 112 is the rewardscheme owner of the reward scheme RS2, the server 112 calculates thereward according to the reward scheme RS2. For the above case ofhandling the inherited reward event as a local reward event, the server112 calculates the reward according to the reward scheme RS0 aftermodification.

At 252, to save the reward calculated at 250, the server 112 determineswhether the user 120 is a member of the reward scheme and has a memberreward account locally at the server 112 for saving rewards, such as byobtaining from the user 120 a membership card number.

At 254, if the determination at 252 is No, which means that the userdoes not have a member reward account at the server 112 for savingrewards (such as due to unfinished registration or authenticationprocedures), the server 112 establishes a dummy reward account of theuser 120 locally and saves the reward granted to the user 120 duringthis transaction in the dummy reward account, and generates anauthorization code for the user 120 so that if the user 120 subsequentlyhas the member reward account, the rewards in the dummy reward accountmay be transferred to the member reward account or other accountsappointed by the user 120.

At 256, if the determination at 252 is Yes, which means that the user120 already has a member reward account at the server 112 for savingrewards, the server 112 further determines whether the user 120previously has a dummy reward account established locally (such asaccording to the authorization code presented by the user 120; refer to254), and whether the dummy reward account saves rewards from previoustransactions. If Yes, the flow proceeds to 257; if not, the flowproceeds to 258.

At 257, the server 112 transfers the rewards from previous transactionssaved in the dummy reward account to the member reward account of theuser 120, and the flow proceeds to 258.

At 258, the server 112 saves the rewards from this transaction in themember reward account of the user 120.

At 270, for the external reward event, the server 112 notifies theserver 114 of the external reward event determined to trigger the rewardscheme RS4 at 214 to be handled by the server 114. For the server 114,this event may be deemed as a local reward event for handling orcalculating rewards, and may be saved locally in the server 114. Inaddition, if the server 112 is aware of the member reward account of theuser 120 in the reward scheme RS4, it may be provided to the server 114together. For subsequent local operations of the server 114, 250 to 258of the server 112 may be referred to. It should be noted that, in thisembodiment, the reward scheme RS4 is set as not allowed to be modified.

As described at 220 to 228 of FIG. 2A, the server 112 may calculatecorresponding rewards for the user 120 according to the reward schemeRS0 obtained externally and save in the server 110 or 112, or asdescribed at 232 of FIG. 2B, the server 110 may calculate and saverewards for the user 120 according to the reward scheme RS0 owned byitself. More particularly, in the case of online trading, since only theserver 112 is provided to the user 120, despite that the rewards weregranted according to the inherited reward scheme RS0, the user 120 maystill wish to browse the record of the rewards by the server 112. In oneembodiment, the server 112 pre-defines a display structure (such ascascading style sheets, but embodiments of the invention are not limitedthereto) locally, and when the user 120 wishes to browse the record ofthe rewards granted according to the inherited reward scheme RS0, theserver 112 may obtain related information from the server 110 yetdisplay the record of the rewards granted according to the inheritedreward scheme RS0 according to the display structure defined by theserver 112 itself. Such an approach maintains the coherence of the styleof the website when the server 112 displays the record of the rewards tothe user 120, and since the server 112 may identify the user 120, suchan approach may also adopt suitable display structures for specificusers 120.

In another embodiment, the server 110 provides the display structure tothe server 112, and thus the server 112 displays the record of therewards granted according to the inherited reward scheme RS0 accordingto the display structure provided by the server 110. As the displaystructure also comprises one or multiple rules, the server 112 mayobtain the display structure as an inheritance of rules from the server110 to display the record of the rewards granted according to theinherited reward scheme RS0, which is similar to the server 112obtaining the reward scheme RS0 as an inheritance of rules from theserver 110 at 202. Whether the display structure provided by the server110 is allowed to be modified by the server 112 may also be set.

It should be mentioned that, although the above embodiments are appliedin the sales of products, embodiments of the invention are not limitedthereto. Aspects described herein may also be applied in organizationalmanagement or business process gamification, details of which areprovided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,768,751, U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0007155, and/orTaiwanese Pat. App. 103134136, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

FIG. 3 further shows a hardware environment block diagram of a computerdevice 500, which may serve as the servers 110, 112, and 114 in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the computer device 500 has a processor to executededicated application programs, a storage device to save variousinformation and program codes, a communication and input/output deviceto act as an interface for users to communicate with, and peripheraldevices or other specific usage devices. In other embodiments, aspectsdescribed herein may also be implemented with other forms and have moreor less apparatuses or devices.

As shown in FIG. 3, the computer device 500 may have a processor 510, amemory 520, and an input/output (I/O) unit 540. The I/O bus may be ahigh-speed serial bus such as a PCI-e bus, yet other bus architecturesmay also be used. Other connections to the I/O bus may be connecteddirectly to the devices or through expansion cards. The I/O unit 540 mayalso be coupled to a hard disk 550 and/or a local area network (LAN)adaptor 560. By the LAN adaptor 560, the computer device 500 maycommunicate with other computer devices through a network 530. Thenetwork 530 may be implemented with any type of connection includingstatic LAN connections or wide area network (WAN) connections or dialupnetworking by Internet service providers. The connection scheme is alsonot limited and may include wired or wireless connections such ascommunications with user computers by wireless networks of GSM or Wi-Fi.However, it should be understood that other hardware and softwarecomponents (such as additional computer systems, routers, firewalls,etc.) may be included in the network despite not being shown in thefigures. The memory 520 may be a random access memory (RAM), a read-onlymemory (ROM), or an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM orFlash memory). The memory 520 is used to save an operating system,program codes of a dedicated main program AP 570, and variousinformation. The operating system may be executed on the processor 510and may coordinate and provide control of various devices in thecomputer device 500. The processor 510 may access the memory 520 toexecute the main program AP 570.

Those skilled in the art may understand that the hardware of thecomputer device 500 in FIG. 3 may have various modifications accordingto different embodiments. Other internal hardware or peripheral devicessuch as Flash ROM, equivalent non-volatile memory, optical drive, etc.may be added to or replace the hardware shown in FIG. 3.

As described herein, an embodiment of the present invention provides acomputer-implemented method for administering reward schemes, and moreparticularly, embodiments of the present invention may share multiplereward schemes by a single computer system (i.e., the computer systemfacing the user) to provide to the user, and may allow each rewardscheme to be dynamically adjusted. Therefore, the user need not berequired to individually handle or log in multiple computer systems.

It is recognized that, although reward schemes may have substantialbenefits in marketing or organizational management, as productsdiversify or as differences in job contents of employees of anorganization increase, the design and management of reward schemes maybecome the issues.

For instance, a retail group generally has multiple different chainstores (or brands). In some approaches, each chain store (or brand)serving the customers is the reward scheme owner and provides theirindividual customer reward scheme to the customers, and separatelymaintain their reward scheme accounts (or separately issue their rewardmembership card). Excessive accounts or membership cards may result ininconveniences for the customers. On the other hand, each chain store(or brand) independently designs their customer reward scheme, and onlyuses the basic policies set by the group as reference at most. Such mayresult in difficulties in the management and integration of rewardschemes on the inter-group level, and the customer reward schemesprovided by each chain store (or brand) lack common grounds, whichimpedes the full exploitation of the advantages of reward schemes on theinter-group level.

Aspects described herein integrate multiple reward scheme owners andprovide to the user or customer by a single computer system. Forexample, reward schemes having common grounds and applying to multiplechain stores may be owned and maintained and updated at the group level,while chain stores subordinate to the group are the owners of rewardschemes only applying to their own extents, and provide the computersystem of the chain store to the customer. Therefore, when the computersystem of the chain store handles customer purchasing, in addition toadopting reward schemes maintained by itself, if it is determined thatgroup-level reward schemes are to be adopted, the computer system of thechain store may connect externally to the group-level computer system toobtain the latest version or even to modify and adjust it. In otherwords, by aspects described herein, a reward scheme owner (the group)may share its reward scheme to other reward scheme owners (the chainstores).

By similar approaches, the computer system of the chain store may alsoexternally obtain or share reward schemes provided by a third party.Therefore, the customer may handle only the computer system of a singlechain store (or use the reward membership card of a single chain store)to be simultaneously applicable for multiple reward schemes of differentreward scheme owners, and may respectively obtain the correspondingrewards.

In view of the above, an embodiment of the present invention provides acomputer-implemented method for administering reward schemes, comprisingthe following steps:

-   -   pre-defining, by a computer system, a first reward scheme, the        first reward scheme defining a first reward event;    -   obtaining, by the computer system, a second reward scheme        externally, the second reward scheme defining a second reward        event;    -   determining, by the computer system, whether at least one of the        first reward event and the second reward event have been        triggered in response to an action by a user;    -   calculating, by the computer system, a first reward for the user        according to the first reward scheme if the first reward event        has been triggered; and    -   calculating, by the computer system, a second reward for the        user according to the second reward scheme obtained externally        if the second reward event has been triggered.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a computer programproduct, stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising acomputer-readable program to be executed on a computer device toimplement the method described above.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a computer systemcomprising an appliance that comprises a bus system, a memory, and aprocessing unit, wherein the memory saves a set of computer-executableinstructions and the processing unit executes the set ofcomputer-executable instructions to implement the method describedabove.

Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, orsimilar language does not imply that all of the features and advantagesthat may be realized with embodiments of the present invention should beor are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, languagereferring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that aspecific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connectionwith an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the presentinvention. Thus, discussion of the features and advantages, and similarlanguage, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily,refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics ofthe embodiments of the invention may be combined in any suitable mannerin one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art willrecognize that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without oneor more of the specific features or advantages of a particularembodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages maybe recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in allembodiments of the invention. The following description, the appendedclaims, and the embodiments of the present invention further illustratethe features and advantages of embodiments of the present invention.

Aspects described herein can be embodied in any other specific mannerswithout departing from the spirit or essential features of embodimentsof the present invention. Aspect of the aforesaid embodiments of thepresent invention shall be deemed illustrative rather than restrictiveof embodiments of the present invention. Hence, the scope of aspectsdescribed herein is defined by the appended claims instead of the abovedescription. All equivalent meanings and scope which fall within theappended claims must be deemed falling within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for computerizedadministration of reward schemes, the method comprising: pre-defining,by a user-facing local computer system, a first reward scheme, the firstreward scheme defining a first reward event which is to triggerprovision of a first reward to the user, wherein the first reward schemeis owned by the user-facing local computer system; obtaining, by theuser-facing local computer system, from a remote computer system remotefrom the local computer system, a second reward scheme, the secondreward scheme defining a second reward event which is to triggerprovision of a second reward to the user, the second reward scheme beingowned by another computer system other than the user-facing localcomputer system, the first reward scheme being a different reward schemethan the second reward scheme and having different (i) reward events,(ii) reward scheme ownership, (iii) rewards, and (iv) reward accountsthan those of the second reward scheme; based on a purchase action bythe user, the purchase action effecting a purchase transaction, usingthe user-facing local computer system, the purchase action beingapplicable to the first reward scheme and the second reward scheme,determining (i) applicability of the purchase action to the first rewardscheme and whether the first reward event has been triggered in responseto the purchase action by the user and (ii) applicability of thepurchase action to the second reward scheme and whether the secondreward event has been triggered in response to the purchase action bythe user, wherein applicability of the purchase action to the firstreward scheme and whether the first reward event is triggered inresponse to the purchase action by the user is independent ofapplicability of the purchase action to the second reward scheme andwhether the second reward event is triggered in response to the purchaseaction by the user, and wherein any obligation of granting the firstreward is independent of any obligation of granting the second reward;based on the first reward event having been triggered by the purchaseaction, determining, by the user-facing local computer system, the firstreward for the user according to the first reward scheme; and based onthe second reward event having been triggered by the purchase action,notifying, by the user-facing local computer system, a predeterminedentity of the second reward event or determining, by the user-facinglocal computer system, the second reward for the user according to thesecond reward scheme.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determiningthe first reward for the user further comprises: saving the first rewardin a member reward account of the user maintained by the user-facinglocal computer system, and wherein the determining the second reward forthe user further comprises: saving the second reward in an externalreward account of the user external to the user-facing local computersystem.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: pre-defining adisplay structure; and displaying, by the user-facing local computersystem, accumulated rewards in the external reward account according tothe display structure in response to a user request.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: obtaining, by the user-facing localcomputer system, an external display structure externally; anddisplaying, by the user-facing local computer system, accumulatedrewards in the external reward account according to the external displaystructure in response to a user request.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the determining the second reward for the user further comprisesmodifying the second reward scheme according to a predetermination, anddetermining the second reward for the user according to the secondreward scheme after modification.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thedetermining the first reward for the user further comprises: saving thefirst reward in a member reward account of the user maintained by theuser-facing local computer system, and wherein the determining thesecond reward for the user further comprises: saving the second rewardin the member reward account.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining the first reward for the user further comprises: saving thefirst reward in a member reward account of the user maintained by theuser-facing local computer system, and wherein the determining thesecond reward for the user further comprises: establishing, by theuser-facing local computer system, a dummy reward account of the userand saving the second reward in the dummy reward account, wherein thedummy reward account is maintained by the user-facing local computersystem.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the establishing the dummyreward account of the user further comprises: generating, by theuser-facing local computer system, an authorization code for the dummyreward account, and providing the authorization code to the user,wherein the authorization code is used by the user to indicate that theuser-facing local computer system transfer the second reward from thedummy reward account to an external reward account external to theuser-facing local computer system.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: obtaining a third reward scheme defining a third rewardevent; determining whether the third reward event has been triggered inresponse to the purchase action by the user; and based on the thirdreward event having been triggered, modifying, by the user-facing localcomputer system, the third reward scheme according to apredetermination, and calculating a third reward for the user accordingto the third reward scheme after modification.
 10. The method of claim9, wherein the second reward scheme is unmodifiable by the user-facinglocal computer system performing the modifying the third reward scheme.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second reward scheme is obtainedby the user-facing local computer system as an inheritance of ruleswithin an organization, and the first reward scheme is established bythe user-facing local computer system.
 12. The method of claim 1,wherein the determining the first reward for the user further comprises:establishing, by the user-facing local computer system, a dummy rewardaccount of the user, maintaining, by the user-facing local computersystem, the dummy reward account of the user, and saving, by theuser-facing local computer system, the first reward in the dummy rewardaccount based on a determination that the user does not have a memberreward account.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: based ondetermining that the second reward scheme is modifiable, modifying, bythe user-facing local computer system, the second reward scheme, whereinthe determining the second reward for the user according to the secondreward scheme is made after modifying the second reward scheme; or basedon the second reward event having been triggered and the second rewardscheme having not been modified, notifying, by the user-facing localcomputer system, the predetermined entity of the second reward event.14. The method of claim 1, wherein a change in a reward account of thefirst reward scheme does not require a change in a reward account of thesecond reward scheme.
 15. A computer system comprising: a memory; and aprocessor in communication with the memory, wherein the computer systemis configured to perform a method comprising: pre-defining, by auser-facing local computer system, a first reward scheme, the firstreward scheme defining a first reward event which is to triggerprovision of a first reward to the user, wherein the first reward schemeis owned by the user-facing local computer system; obtaining, by theuser-facing local computer system, from a remote computer system remotefrom the local computer system, a second reward scheme, the secondreward scheme defining a second reward event which is to triggerprovision of a second reward to the user, the second reward scheme beingowned by another computer system other than the user-facing localcomputer system, the first reward scheme being a different reward schemethan the second reward scheme and having different (i) reward events,(ii) reward scheme ownership, (iii) rewards, and (iv) reward accountsthan those of the second reward scheme; based on a purchase action bythe user, the purchase action effecting a purchase transaction, usingthe user-facing local computer system, the purchase action beingapplicable to the first reward scheme and the second reward scheme,determining (i) applicability of the purchase action to the first rewardscheme and whether the first reward event has been triggered in responseto the purchase action by the user and (ii) applicability of the secondreward scheme and whether the second reward event has been triggered inresponse to the purchase action by the user, wherein applicability ofthe purchase action to the first reward scheme and whether the firstreward event is triggered in response to the purchase action by the useris independent of applicability of the purchase action to the secondreward scheme and whether the second reward event is triggered inresponse to the purchase action by the user, and wherein any obligationof granting the first reward is independent of any obligation ofgranting the second reward; based on the first reward event having beentriggered by the purchase action, determining, by the user-facing localcomputer system, the first reward for the user according to the firstreward scheme; and based on the second reward event having beentriggered by the purchase action, notifying, by the user-facing localcomputer system, a predetermined entity of the second reward event ordetermining, by the user-facing local computer system, the second rewardfor the user according to the second reward scheme.
 16. The computersystem of claim 15, wherein the determining the first reward for theuser further comprises: saving the first reward in a member rewardaccount of the user maintained by the user-facing local computer system,and wherein the determining the second reward for the user furthercomprises: saving the second reward in an external reward account of theuser external to the user-facing local computer system.
 17. The computersystem of claim 15, wherein the determining the second reward for theuser further comprises modifying the second reward scheme according to apredetermination, and determining the second reward for the useraccording to the second reward scheme after modification.
 18. Thecomputer system of claim 15, wherein the determining the first rewardfor the user further comprises: saving the first reward in a memberreward account of the user maintained by the user-facing local computersystem, and wherein the determining the second reward for the userfurther comprises: establishing, by the user-facing local computersystem, a dummy reward account of the user and saving the second rewardin the dummy reward account, wherein the dummy reward account ismaintained by the user-facing local computer system.
 19. The computersystem of claim 18, wherein the establishing the dummy reward account ofthe user further comprises: generating, by the user-facing localcomputer system, an authorization code for the dummy reward account, andproviding the authorization code to the user, wherein the authorizationcode is used by the user to indicate that the user-facing local computersystem transfer the second reward from the dummy reward account to anexternal reward account external to the user-facing local computersystem.
 20. A computer program product comprising: a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium readable by a processing circuit andstoring instructions for execution by the processing circuit forperforming a method comprising: pre-defining, by a user-facing localcomputer system, a first reward scheme, the first reward scheme defininga first reward event which is to trigger provision of a first reward tothe user, wherein the first reward scheme is owned by the user-facinglocal computer system; obtaining, by the user-facing local computersystem, from a remote computer system remote from the local computersystem, a second reward scheme, the second reward scheme defining asecond reward event which is to trigger provision of a second reward tothe user, the second reward scheme being owned by another computersystem other than the user-facing local computer system, the firstreward scheme being a different reward scheme than the second rewardscheme and having different (i) reward events, (ii) reward schemeownership, (iii) rewards, and (iv) reward accounts than those of thesecond reward scheme; based on a purchase action by the user, thepurchase action effecting a purchase transaction, using the user-facinglocal computer system, the purchase action being applicable to the firstreward scheme and the second reward scheme, determining (i)applicability of the purchase action to the first reward scheme andwhether the first reward event has been triggered in response to thepurchase action by the user and (ii) applicability of the purchaseaction to the second reward scheme and whether the second reward eventhas been triggered in response to the purchase action by the user,wherein applicability of the purchase action to the first reward schemeand whether the first reward event is triggered in response to thepurchase action by the user is independent of applicability of thepurchase action to the second reward scheme and whether the secondreward event is triggered in response to the purchase action by theuser, and wherein any obligation of granting the first reward isindependent of any obligation of granting the second reward; based onthe first reward event having been triggered by the purchase action,determining, by the user-facing local computer system, the first rewardfor the user according to the first reward scheme; and based on thesecond reward event having been triggered by the purchase action,notifying, by the user-facing local computer system, a predeterminedentity of the second reward event or determining, by the user-facinglocal computer system, the second reward for the user according to thesecond reward scheme.